Hunter Or Hunted
by crystal-demon
Summary: Come aboard and join in the adventure of the crew of the whitebeard. Chapter 10 and 11 coming soon.
1. Chapter 1

_**CHAPTER ONE**_

"Well that was an interesting visit" He thought to himself, shading his eyes form the beam of the sun. His Black hair waving behind him as a gentle breeze managed to keep him cool. He placed his hat, which was resting on his back, on to head and placed his hands in his pockets.

_They were...a lively bunch, that much I can say._

His eyes scanned the environment, sand, sand and more sand and to top it all of he didn't have a clue how to get back to his crew. He sighed out loud, his breath blowing his hair out of his eyes. He was tall and good looking and, that he thought was some what of a curse. He could not go any where without a huge hoard of crazed girls attacking him.

_The life of a pirate is a funny life indeed. _

He looked over the horizon, hoping to see someone or something that he knew instead he just saw…

"Sand! What is with all the sand?" He yelled out loud, then remembering that he was in the middle of a desert, laughed at the stupidity of his outburst.

"If I don't find my crew soon I think I'll explode" wiping the sweat from his forehead. His bare back was beginning to burn, upon his back was a tattoo. A tattoo that if you glanced at it you would know who this person was and you would know not to mess with him. He sighed yet again, this time it was an attempt to keep himself cool but it failed. The heat was getting to him.

"The heat is my worst enemy at the moment, how ironic" He said, laughing at his own joke, he had found what he had said funny as he had the power of a cursed fruit on his side, but not just any fruit, the Flare Flare fruit, which gave him the power to turn his body into one giant fireball at will. It was this power along with his tattoo that made him a well known and well feared pirate.

His crew was one of the most famous crews around and that was mainly owing to the fact that their captain was Whitebeard himself. He thought about his crew for a moment longer until he spotted the ocean.

"And it's about time, too"

There was just one small problem…

"Where the hell is my crew?"

Then an idea sprang to his head. They don't call him heatfist for nothing. He closed his eyes and summoned the power of his cursed fruit, at once his fist began to crack and sizzle and soon enough his entire fist burst into flame.

"That should do it" And with that he sent a wave of fire into the air, this acted like a flare. Soon after the flame around his hand began to dim and finally went out.

"Now I just sit around and wait" He then added as an afterthought "Rayne had best of saw that if not I am going to kill her" Rayne was the crews marksman and she had a small habit of doing things just to tick him off. He sat down on the sand which was hot to the touch, this feeling only lasted a moment and the sensation went away. He was tired and now he was hungry. He closed his eyes and placed his hat on the ground behind him.

"They could take a while so I'm having a nap" He lent his head back onto his hat. He was about to doze off when he heard a voice calling his name. The voice was familiar and it was female, he sat up straight and he wore a smirk on his face.

"A voice that loud, it's gotta be Rayne" And sure enough he saw his ship pulling up to the bank. He stood up, put his hat back on his head and began to walk towards the boat as if to meet it half way. The ship had come to a stop in front of him. A walk way was lowered so he could get on board. Waiting to greet him was a tall and powerful looking man. He extended his hand and wore a smile on his face.

"We have missed you around here Trace" He said the lad who was boarding the Boat, the boy returned the smile.

"I knew you would miss me Whitebeard, this crew won't work without me"

**--**


	2. Chapter 2

**_CHAPTER TWO._**

"We have missed you around here Trace" He said the lad who was boarding the Boat, the boy returned the smile.

"I knew you would miss me Whitebeard, this crew won't work without me" Trace said, this remake resulted in a disapproving look.

"I'm only joking" Trace laughed, Whitebeard smiled at him and the two of them then began to walk the deck towards the rudder. Whitebeard then turned to Trace with a serious look upon his face. It was times like this that Trace noticed why he was a feared pirate. Not only was he strong he looked fierce and this was enough for people to get the message that he was one person that you don't mess with.

"Did you follow the lead?" He said referring to the mission that he had said Trace on a while ago. Trace shook his head, took of his hat and threw it on to the closet barrel.

"Nope, just some guy saying that he had"

"So, what took you so long then, Trace, I mean it don't normally take you that long for a mission" Whitebeard asked.

"Well, funny story that is, I meet my little Brother" Trace smirked at him.

"I never knew that you had a little brother Trace, is he a pirate?"

"Yep, and if I thought our crew was weird his would win first prize" Trace cleared his throat as he began a little speech.

"What was it he said… he has an ex pirate hunter, a navigator that loves maps and money, a cook that loves their navigator, a marksman with a big nose that tell big lies and a reindeer that is a doctor…. Like I said weird" White beard, by now, was looking at Trace like he had grown an extra head. Trace noticed this and began laughing out loud. When they reached the rudder, whitebeard then shouted:

"Raise the anchor!"

As soon as the anchor was raised the ship began a very steady sail. Trace lent on the railing of the ship and breathed in. He loved the smell of the sae air and had missed being part of the Whitebeard crew. His thoughts then drifted over to his Brother.

_He sure has grown; I bet we'll have to meet on the battle field one day. Then we can see who Is the stronger brother… that is me of course!_

The sea wind had picked up a little bit since they had set off, but Trace wasn't worried he was a pirate and the wind was just one more battle to fight. Trace then left Whitebeards side for a brief moment and walked over to the barrel that he had thrown his hat onto, he picked it up and put it onto his head.

"My family has a thing for headwear" He thought out loud. Trace then decided to sit on the barrel and take a look at what the crew was up to. He saw to crewmen having an arm wrestling competition that was an easy way to pass the time when you were at sea. A large group of crewman were having a laugh and a joke, all of them had a mug which was filled with brew.

_Typical._

Trace adjusted the way he was sitting on the barrel and stared out to the sea, he did this a lot as it was an easy way to lose yourself and let go of the reality of the world. He was brought out of this state of mind by a large gust of wind which almost knocked his hat off. The wind had gotten a lot worse. Trace got off the barrel and ran back over to Whitebeard, who was having trouble trying to keep the boat steady.

"What is going on?" Trace called out over the sound of the wind. Whitebeard put all of his weight into turning the wheel to the right.

"A storm!" He shouted back

"No kidding" Trace sounded a little insulted at the last comment. "I know what a storm is!"

Whitebeards face was screwed up in concentration and also, what looked like pain. Trace placed his hand on the wheel. Whitebeard then turned to face him.

"What are you doing?"

"Lending a hand"

A sudden clap of thunder and a downpour of rain drowned out the rest of the conversation. The sea then began to rock in a violent manner, knocking many of the crew of their feet.

"Captain, Captain!" Said a voice you could only just make out over the noise of the storm. A man in his mid twenties came running up to him. He had short black hair which he normally had spiked but because of the downpour it hung over his eyes. He was well built and very tall. Across his left eye he had a large scar.

"Taro?" Whitebeard said as the man ran over. "You told me it would be clear sailing"

"Captain, I made a mistake and if we don't manage to get off of our current course we are going to head straight into the eye of a huge storm" Taro said, panic shot across his face. Whitebeard, on the other hand, showed no fear and turned to Taro with a determined look on his face.

"Warn the crew and tell Irvine that he will have casualties heading his way" Taro nodded his head and ran of to tell the crew. Trace looked at Whitebeard/

"What do you want me to do?" He asked, but before Whitebeard could answer, a large wave crashed into the side of the boat, which caused Trace to lose his footing and…

"Man over board!" Whitebea5rd shouted to the crew that were standing near by.

"What?" One of them yelled back "Who was it?"

"Trace and he can't swim!" Panic then insured as people desperately tried to reach Trace but many just feared the worst. Whitebeard was trying to keep control of the boat but was distracted.

"Someone help Trace!" He yelled but was answered with mixed responses.

"We can't we will all drown-"

"So will he, people with cursed powers lose the ability to swim and-"He was about to continue when he heard …

"Captain! JT just dived into the water" A crewmen informed him. Whitebeard sighed.

"I pray he's not too late."

--

A/N:

Crystal-demon here,

Wow! Another chapter, I am on a roll.

I decided to go on a different road to your usual one piece stories and follow Trace and the Whitebeard crew.

Will JT save Trace? Who is this JT? All will be answered soon.


	3. Chapter 3

**_CHAPTER THREE._**

The sound of the sea-it was peaceful-not how it had sounded a while ago, he could also hear the seagulls as they flew over head. The sun was beaming into the cabin and he thought this might be a good a time as any to open his eyes.

"Am I dead?" He asked, his voice sounded groggy and his head was pounding.

"No, I'm not that bad of a doctor am I?" A man's face loomed over his. He had long blue hair which was tied back into a ponytail; he wore an expression on his face that was between insult and relief. The man in the bed tried to get up but the doctor pushed him back.

"Oh no you don't, you need to rest, Trace, you decided to take a little swim." The doctor said in a stern voice. Trace lied back, after much persuasion, and placed his hand over his eyes.

"What happened?" He asked. "All I remember was the storm and then…nothing" His voice trailed of as he tried to remember. The doctor sat down on a seat near to Trace's bed and looked at him.

"Would you like me to fill you in?" He asked but he already knew what Trace was going to say.

"Yes." A one worded answer and the doctor knew that this was going to take some time to explain. He got himself comfortable, cleared his throat and began to fill in the blanks.

"Ok, so you just told me that you can remember the storm right, well you got knocked over board during it." He paused, sighed and started again. "Well we all know that you can't swim due to the Flare Flare fruit's power, and with the storm so strong not many of the crew would jump in after you, so everyone feared the worse. Suddenly JT jumped in after you, we all didn't think that he would make it in time but…well…here you are! You owe JT your life" The doctor finished the explanation and stood up. As he walked over to a small cabinet, Trace spoke.

"And what of the ship, how much damage did we take, tell me Irvine!" He said using the doctor's name for the first time since he had woken up, his hands then reached for his head and he winced in pain.

"I advise you not to raise your voice" He then threw something over to Trace, "And I also advise that you take one of these tablets at least once a day." He finished. Trace picked up the small tub of pills and stared at them.

"You still haven't answered my question, what happened to the crew and the ship?" Irvine turned around at this and smiled.

"Taro found us a way out of the storm but…" He stopped.

"But what?"

"Taro blames himself for what has happened, he thinks that he's a bad navigator and has locked himself away, he won't even talk to Lucia." Trace continued to look at the tub of pills that he had clenched in his hand. Trace then stood up off of the bed, his body shock a little but he soon regained his composure. Irvine smiled at him.

"Let me guess, you want me to dismiss you so you can go above deck and help out with the repairs." Irvine said in a tone that sounded just a little disappointed, Trace smiled at him. "Go on then but take it easy. Ok."

"Of course I will"

"This means you won't." Irvine said as he turned back to his small cabinet and began to sort through a pile of papers. Trace turned around and walked up the stairs which lead him to the deck. He was greeted by the smell of the sea and the blazing sun. Trace looked around the deck to see what damage the storm had done to the ship. It wasn't as bad as he had thought it would be, a few rails were broken, the deck had a few hole in it and the sail was ripped but at least there was no serious damage. Trace's eyes the scanned for Whitebeard as he wanted to be filled in and soon enough he found him.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU TWO ARE PLAYING AT!" Whitebeards voice rang out across the deck, Trace turned to see who he was yelling at and soon enough he found them. A young girl with red hair which was held back by a bandana, she was very pretty but very sarcastic. The other was a boy with silver hair that hung over his eyes, he two wore a bandana but he wore it across his arm. Whitebeard was standing over them, his finger waving in a very scary way. Trace walked over just to see what was going on, and cause he wanted to laugh. As he made his way over he saw what Whitebeard was yelling at the two of them for. The rail they were supposed to be fixing was…well not fixed.

"WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELFS?" Whitebeard continued to yell at them, as Trace got closer he saw that Ethan and Rayne were laughing.

"Oh, chill out. We were only having a little bit of fun, no damage has been done." Ethan said, raising his hands in a mocking way as if to take the mick. Whitebeard glared at him and Ethan dropped his hands.

"I agree and we'll finish the rail right now." Rayne came to Ethan's defence and picked up the hammer, she then noticed Trace standing there, laughing at what he had just seen.

"Hiya, Trace" Ethan said as he also picked up a hammer.

"Trace, are you sure you should be up and about?" Whitebeard said in a very unhappy tone, he was probably still angry at Ethan and Rayne. Trace waved his hand in a dismissing way.

"As long as I take the pills the doc prescribed I should be as right as rain." He said. Whitebeard frowned at him but soon his attention was brought back to Ethan and Rayne who were throwing their hammers at each other. Rayne noticed Whitebeard staring at them and dropped the hammer, unfortunately, it landed on Whitebeards foot.

"….ouch." Whitebeard said in a very quiet, yet very dangerous tone. Rayne and Ethan looked at each other, then at Whitebeard, then back to each other.

"Erm….sorry?" Rayne said in a very unconvincing tone. Whitebeards eyes shot in her direction. Rayne looked round, as if hoping to find a life line.

"Ah, I hear Lucia calling me, gotta go, BYE!" Rayne then got up and ran towards the kitchen at a top speed of 150mpf, which meant miles per fear, Whitebeard's attention then drew towards Ethan, who had stood there, staring in horror at the hammer, and he too, got up and ran away. Trace smiled at what had just happened.

"They're going to be really sorry later on." Trace said with a small hint of amusement in his voice. Whitebeard stared at him and began to limp away, cursing under his breath. Trace laughed to himself for a while. He walked around the deck for a while, overseeing the repair work when he saw JT. Trace ran over to him. JT had very short brown hair and was medium height.

"Hey." Traces said as he reached the place were JT was sitting. JT looked at him in a half-hearted attempt.

"I just wanted to say thank you for-"But Trace stopped as JT got up and walked away, Trace stood there, and looking like an idiot, he stamped his foot on the floor a few times, getting random crew people to stop and look at him.

_He is such a moody git._

"Trace" JT said suddenly, bringing Trace out of his day-dream.

"What?" Trace said, trying to sound like he wasn't surprised that JT had talked to him, but he was. JT noticed that and a small smirk came across his face.

"I have a question for you."

"Oh, and what's that?"

"Where's your hat?" JT said in a very taunting way, he then turned and walked away, leaving Trace to stand there and think about what JT had just said. A few moments went by and Trace slowly reached up and touched his head.

"WHERE THE HELL _IS _MY HAT!"

--

I'm so happy I finally did chapter three.

So, I shall start writing chapter four as soon as I can.

See ya all later!


	4. Chapter 4

**_CHAPTER FOUR_**

"How long do you think he'll sit there?" Ethan asked Rayne, who was staring out into the distance.

"I dunno, he's sat there for 3 hours already!" Rayne replied. The two of them were sitting on the deck, mainly avoiding Whitebeard who still hadn't forgiven them for the hammer accident. Rayne was sitting on the rail whilst Ethan was leaning on it.

"Why are we staring at him, shouldn't we help?" Ethan said in a very off-handed way.

"Nah, this is way more fun." Rayne laughed.

"True." Ethan said also laughing. The two of them sat there laughing for a while until the two of them noticed someone approach. A girl with long brown hair, which was in two loose pigtails, had walked over.

"What are you two laughing at?" She asked.

"Hi, Lucia. So you finally escaped the kitchen and decided to join us." Ethan said, he was still laughing; Lucia placed her hands on her hips.

"Who did you two wind up this time?" Lucia had a very disapproving look on her face.

"We annoyed Whitebeard a couple of hours ago." Rayne said.

"What did you do?" Lucia asked in a way which was almost dreading the answer, Rayne smirked.

"I dropped a hammer on his foot." She said trying not to laugh.

"You did what!"

"It was an accident, honest." Ethan said in defence, but as soon as he caught Rayne's eye he burst into laughter. Lucia sighed and sat on the rail as well.

"So what were you two laughing at?" Lucia asked again.

"When?" Ethan said.

"When I came out 5 minutes ago?" Lucia said, Rayne and Ethan looked at each other.

"Him." They said together, both pointing out across the deck. Lucia looked over in the direction they were pointing, her ayes widened when she saw what they were pointing at.

"Why is he doing that?" She asked, her eyes still fixed on the spot that they had pointed to.

"Well, that's a funny story, you see…" Rayne began, Lucia's eyes shot back into focus and she turned her attention onto Rayne.

"That storm we just had was vicious, right?" Ethan said, Lucia nodded her head and the realised what he had just said, frowned.

"How is the storm, which was vicious, going to lead into a funny story?" Lucia asked.

"Well, you know how after the storm we did a stock check, repairs and what not?" Rayne was continuing the story.

"And how is all of this going to lead to the funny part?" Lucia said again, this time her temper was flaring.

"Chill, Lucia." Ethan said.

"Just get on with it!" Lucia sighed.

"Right, so after cleaning up the ship, he couldn't find…and he's been…-" The rest of this conversation was drowned out by Rayne, who was laughing so hard that she had to hold onto the rail to stop herself from falling off. Upon seeing this, Ethan burst into laughter as well.

"How long has he been sitting like that for?" Lucia asked, she was looking back out across the deck. After a moment Rayne calmed herself down.

"About 3 hours." She said as she got down from the rail and sat on the floor with her legs stretched out.

"Shouldn't we talk to him?" Asked Lucia.

"Nope." Ethan said.

"Why?"

"Cause that would ruin mine and Rayne's fun, I mean we can't get the blame for this one." Ethan said with a smile on his face. Lucia, on the other hand, didn't see the funny side.

But look at him!" Lucia protested, pointing across the deck. Rayne stood up and joined Ethan, and together all 3 of them looked out across the deck.

The thing that was making them laugh was Trace. He was sitting at the end of the deck, alone; he was in the fetal position and was rocking backwards and forwards. Rayne, Ethan and Lucia all stared at him.

"So what's wrong with him?" Lucia asked, but her question wasn't answered by Rayne or Ethan, it was answered by JT.

"He's upset because he lost his hat." JT said, as he joined them on the rail. Ethan and Rayne burst onto laughter, again.

"So, he's been sitting like that for 3 hours because he lost his hat?" Lucia looked over at Rayne and Ethan, who were still laughing, and she began to see the funny side to all of this.

"Yep" JT said, suddenly his attention was diverted by the sight of Whitebeard walk over to Trace. They all stopped and stared, waiting to see what was going to happen.

Across the deck, Whitebeard approached Trace; he was still limping from the hammer incident, with an unhappy look on his face.

"Trace?" He asked, Trace just sat there and ignored him.

"Trace?" He asked again and still he got no answer. This caused him to lose his temper.

"WOULD YOU STOP FEELING SORRY FOR YOURSELF!" Whitebeard yelled, making all the crew on deck jump. Trace continued to ignore him and still rocked backwards and forwards.

"Argh! I give up; I'm too old for this." He sighed. Whitebeard turned around and saw Irvine walking towards him. Irvine was holding his hands behind his back, meaning he was hiding something; Whitebeard grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Irvine, do something!"

"Relax; by the way how is your foot feeling?" Irvine asked as he had noticed the slight limp.

"Better" He then added "No thanks the Rayne and Ethan, I swear when I get my hands on those two I am going to kill them."

"Well maybe you should keep off it like I said but you never listen to me, do you?" Irvine said as he brushed past Whitebeard and walked over to Trace. Irvine knelt down by him.

"Trace?" He asked in a soft ton of voice. Trace ignored him like he did Whitebeard.

"Trace?" He asked again in a slightly louder voice.

"TRACE, LISTEN TO IRVINE!" Whitebeard yelled making everyone on deck jump, again. Trace turned his head and looked at Irvine.

"Yes." He said in barely a whisper.

"I have your hat." He said as blunt as he could. Trace stared at him.

"You do?" He asked

"You were in such a hurry this morning to leave my cabin you never gave me chance to tell you that JT gave it to me." Irvine explained as he held out Trace's hat.

"My hat…" Trace said as he put it onto his head. A smile broke out over his face and he stood up straight.

"Well, I feel better." He said. Whitebeard stared at him, and then he walked over to him and hit him hard across the back of the head.

"Thanks to you we lost time getting to shore!" Whitebeard snapped at him.

"How is that my fault, you could still get to land with out me." Trace shot back.

"That's not the point."

"Erm…guys?" Irvine began

"Do you want to fight about it?"

"Guys?"

"Maybe I do."

"GUYS!"

"WHAT!" Trace and Whitebeard said together.

"Land." Irvine pointed out across the rail.

"Ok, set sail." Whitebeard cried out to his crew.

"Yes, sir!"

"I still think you're a moron." He added to Trace.

"I'm going to kill you." Trace snapped.

"Argh, here we go again." Irvine sighed waking off to let them do what they wanted to do.

"OUCH"

"I see I am going to need to get the medical kit ready." Irvine said with a smile on his face.

--

ARGH! That took for ever to write.

But I hope you enjoy reading it.


	5. Chapter 5

_**CHAPTER FIVE**_

"Now, what have we learned?" Irvine said as he closed his medical kit. He was staring at Trace and Whitebeard, who were sitting with there heads hung in shame.

"That we don't fight on the deck." They both sighed in unison.

"Good, because this is the behaviour I would expect form Ethan and Rayne." He said, and then as he went to finish telling them off Taro entered the cabin.

"Umm…sir?" He asked as he stood at the doorway.

"Yes?"

"We have arrived at the dock." He said, as he turned to leave Whitebeard called to him.

"Are you ok?"

"Me? Yes sir, why do you ask?" Taro said.

"You don't still blame yourself, do you?" Whitebeard asked in a gentle tone.

"Nope, Lucia came to see me and told me that it was a mistake and that everyone makes them." He said with a smile on his face.

"You are lucky to have a girlfriend like that, Taro, hold onto her." Trace said as he got up and headed towards the exit, Whitebeard also stood up and joined him.

"I don't want to see either of you two in here again today, please." Irvine said as he referred to Trace and Whitebeard's little spat.

"We won't." And with that the three of them left the cabin and headed up to the deck. They had docked at a small village, which looked peaceful enough. Whitebeard turned to Trace.

"I want you to take a small group ashore and get all the supplies that we need, I am going to stay here and oversee the repairs."

"Sure, who do you want me to take?" Trace asked, Whitebeard frowned as he knew he needed all the help he could get on the ship.

"Take JT, it will be good for him to get off the ship for a while."

"Right, who else?"

"Either Rayne or Ethan cause if you leave them here you might come back to the ship and find out that you have two crewmen missing." Whitebeard said in a tone that sounded like a threat.

"I'll take Rayne as you will need Ethan for repair work." Trace said he then clicked his fingers. "And I'll take Lucia cause then I'll have an even group."

"Sounds like a good idea." Whitebeard then summoned a crew member. "Go and find JT, Rayne and Lucia."

"So, what kind of things will I need in town?"

"Food, water and everything else that we need to replace." Whitebeard said.

They stood there for a moment and looked out at the village, Whitebeard was sure that you could get what you needed there and he hoped that the villagers were nice enough people, the only thing they had to watch for was the navy.

"You called for us?" Lucia's voice brought them out of them out of there daydream.

"What's going on?" Rayne said, as she tied her bandana round her head, JT just stood there looking moody, as usual.

"You three are going into town with Trace to get the supplies and I want no complaining." He said this last bit as Rayne opened her mouth to say something.

"All right, let's go." Trace said pointing in the air and marching forward, Lucia turned to Rayne.

"We have to follow orders from him?"

The four of them clambered off the ship and began to walk into town. Trace turned to Rayne.

"I want you two." He indicated to her and Lucia. "To go and get food and water, JT and I will go and get other supplies" Trace finished and crossed his arms, Rayne raised an eyebrow.

"What other supplies?" Trace stared at her then he opened his mouth to say something when he stopped, come to think of it Whitebeard hadn't told him what he needed to get.

"Ummm….secret supplies, now we will meet back here in one hour, got it?" Trace said, this caused Rayne to looked over her shoulder and Lucia.

"He has no clue does he?"

"Nope." And with that, the two girls walked away. Trace and JT stood there and watched them for a moment until JT turned to Trace.

"So, what are we looking for?"

"Apparently there is someone here who knows were we can find Blackbeard!" Trace said. JT stared at him.

"Really?"

"Yep, can we leave now?"

Across the town, Rayne and Lucia were looking at a stall on the market.

"This is expensive!" Rayne cried as she looked at the price of an apple.

"That's the way life is here, I guess." Lucia shrugged her shoulders and handed over the money. The man behind the stall smiled and waved them goodbye, Lucia passed the bag to Rayne's.

"And another thing, why am I carrying all the bags?!" Rayne yelled.

"Cause you are stronger then me, that's why." Lucia smiled at her and turned to walk around the corner but she stopped.

"Why are you stopping in the middle of-" Rayne began but Lucia's hand flying into her face made her stop.

"Shhhh, look." Lucia pointed, Rayne looked over to see that there was a small group of Navy people.

"What are they doing here?"

"Shhhh." They both leant a little more on the wall to listen to what they were saying.

"Ok, so we followed your lead."

"Yep"

"And we found no pirates"

"Yep"

"And you are my navigator, why?"

"No idea, sir."

This argument was going on between a navy commander and his second. The commander was a tall and scary looking man. His long silver hair was tied back in a ponytail and his dark eyes looked like they were reading his seconds thoughts. The second, who was obviously scared, cowered and flinched at this look.

"When I said find my Whitebeards crew, that is what I meant, you idiot!"

"Yes captain, sir."

"No I am going to say this one more time and I don't want you to mess this up."

"And what is that, sir?"

"I want you to find Whitebeards crew."

"Yeah?"

"And when you do."

"Yeah"

"I want you to KILL THEM!"

-----

Woop!

I finally finished this chapter, so tell me what you think.

Peace out.


	6. Chapter 6

_**CHAPTER SIX**_

Lucia took a step backwards and looked at Rayne in horror, she had heard the others get death threats but she had never heard one said in front of her before. Lucia stared at Rayne, her sight becoming blurry as her eyes filled with tears.

"How could any one want to kill us?" She asked, as she tried to fight the tears. Rayne looked at her, she was used to this, hell she had even got death threats off of Whitebeard, but Lucia was the newest member of the crew and had never been given a death threat before. Rayne placed a hand on Lucia's shoulder and smiled.

"You get used to it; I mean the life of a pirate is not an easy one." Lucia looked up at Rayne and smiled at her, she always knew the right thing to say to make her smile. Lucia dried her eyes; suddenly she stopped halfway through her action and stared at Rayne.

"What's the matter, now?" Rayne asked.

"What are we going to do about them?" She pointed over to the Navy commander and his second in command, who was still on the floor, cowering in fear.

"Run away?" Rayne suggested, Lucia smirked at this comment. They both took a step backwards and turned to run away but…

CRASH!

Rayne had walked straight into the shopping that the two of them had put on the floor. Rayne stared at Lucia the same way she stared at Whitebeard when she knew she was in trouble.

"Sorry."

"Its fine, now lets go quickly, we have to tell Trace what we just heard and then we have to warn Whitebeard!" Lucia had regained her self control and was using her head, Rayne smiled; she always knew how to handle a crisis better then Rayne did. A pair of voices bought Rayne out of her day dream.

"What was that noise?" The Navy commander had noticed the loud crash and had sent his second in command over to check it out. Rayne tugged on Lucia's arm to get her to move, but Lucia had freaked out again.

"Come on, we gotta move, NOW!" Rayne pulled her arm; this was sol like her, calm and collected one minute and panicking the next. She became a pirate why? She looked round the corner, the second in command was inches away and they were gonna get caught. Rayne had to think of something, she let go of Lucia's arm and reached down to the floor and grabbed something in the palm of her hand. She then leant against the side of the wall and waited for the Navy guy to come round the corner, she turnt to Lucia.

"I want you to run, now, as fast as you can and don't look back, I want you to find Trace and tell him what is going on, like we planned a minute ago." She smirked; Lucia turned her face in Rayne's direction.

"What are you going to do?"

"Bye us some time, run, NOW!" She hated yelling at Lucia but she knew she had to. Lucia looked at her in horror.

"You can't be serious?"

"I'll catch up…I promise." Rayne looked at Lucia; Lucia could tell that she was serious. With one last look at each other Lucia ran down the side of the alley. Rayne sighed and gripped what she was holding in her hand tighter.

"Hello? Is there someone here?" The second in command had reached the edge of the wall; he turned back to the Navy commander.

"I don't think there is anyone here."

"LOOK BEHIND THE WALL YOU IDIOT!" The Navy commander yelled at him, Rayne flinched at the sound of his voice and knew she had only one shot of making her plan work.

"Fine, you don't have to yell." The second in command looked around the side of the wall and spotted Rayne. He stood there staring at Rayne for a moment before it clicked in his mind who he was staring at.

"Hey, sir. There's a girl behind-OWWWWW!" The second in command stumbled backwards, holding his face in pain. What Rayne had picked up off the floor was a small bunch of rocks and she threw it as hard as she could into the second in commands face. Rayne took this as her chance and began to run off in the same direction as Lucia. The navy commander rushed over.

"What happened?" He yelled, the second was still howling in pain but was able to get out a sentence.

"There was a girl behind the wall and she threw something at my face, Captain Sebastian." He continued to howl, the commander, Captain Sebastian, stared at his second before hitting him hard across the back of the head. The second hit the floor.

"You IDIOT! You let her get away." He then turned to the rest of his men. "I want you to find her and then I want you to bring her to me." The rest of his men saluted and ran off in the same direction the Rayne did. Captain Sebastian turned and looked at his second, who was still on the floor.

"I will deal with you later, Scott." Sebastian then walked away.

"Hey, wait for me" Scott ran off after him.

Meanwhile, Rayne had managed to get some distance between her and the navy guys. She ran round a corner and found herself face to face with Lucia, who was sitting on a wall, trying to catch her breath. Rayne fell to her knees and tried to catch hers. Lucia looked at her.

"What did you do?" Rayne looked up at her, she was clutching her stomach, and she had one hell of a cramp.

"Got them off our tale for a while." She replied, "We need to find Trace and JT and get out of here." She added.

"Where did they say they were going?"

"I dunno"

"Pants."

"Yep"

The two of them sat in silence for a while and thought about what had just happened, it never failed, they go out for a couple of hours and are chased by the navy and had death threats made after them. Today really sucked. Rayne broke the silence.

"Who was that guy way, he seemed like a new commander to me and he seemed young." Rayne asked Lucia, She had finally caught back some of her breath, she should be used to it as Whitebeard chases her and Ethan all the time, she laughed to her self as she remembered some of the times, Lucia looked at her.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Oh, nothing." Rayne smirked at her.

"What do you think we should do, Rayne?"

"I dunno, I would say that we should find the others but we don't have an idea were they could be."

"WE could always head back to the ship" Lucia suggested, Rayne smiled at the idea, trust Lucia to regain her calmness at a time like this.

"Good, so we head back to the ship and hope that we pass them on the way." Rayne stood up and leant on the wall, she hated getting cramps because they always hurt. Lucia hoped down off the wall and the two of them started to walk back towards the dock. Rayne suddenly stopped, Lucia turned back and saw Rayne had a look of horror on her face.

"What is it?"

"Whitebeard is going to kill us."

"Why?"

"We forgot he supplies."

"Uh-oh" They both said in unison.

Rayne was right, today REALLY sucked.

------

Argh! I am so sorry that it has taken me so long to update, but with exams and assessments and all that Jazz I have been really busy.

Sorry, sorry, sorry.


	7. Chapter 7

**_CHAPTER SEVEN_**

Whitebeard leant on railing; it was one of the only ones that had been fixed. He looked out to the small dock of the town that they were docked at. He had sent Trace, Lucia, JT and Rayne into town for supplies leaving the rest of the crew to do most of the repair work that they couldn't do while they were still sailing. He sighed as he brushed some of his hair out of his eyes. It was quiet, which was weird as it's never quiet. Behind him he heard footsteps coming closer to him; he turned around to see Irvine walking towards him. Whitebeard shot him a smile and Irvine returned the favour, Irvine leant on the rail next to him and smiled.

"It's nice of you to come up here and join me, Irvine. You never seem to leave that office of yours." Whitebeard said to him, Irvine looked at him and frowned.

"I wouldn't always be down there if you and Trace didn't keep fighting and making me patch you up" Irvine replied it an offhanded tone. Whitebeard laughed gently and continued to gaze out into the dock. They both stood there in silence listening to the sounds that they could hear around them. There was a load of banging coming from certain areas as crewman fixed rails and fixed other bits, clattering came from below as people cleaned up what the storm had knocked over. After a while Irvine spoke.

"It's so quiet." He said simply. Whitebeard turned his head towards him and looked at him with interest.

"Hm?"

"I mean there is always some sort of chatter or fight or something but there's nothing, except for the clattering." He added that last bit as a large crashing noise was heard from below deck and it had made him jump.

"Yeah I know. It's weird but at the same time kinda nice." Whitebeard said as he turned his attention to the crew working below. Irvine looked around for a moment before he spoke again.

"Where's Rayne?" He asked, Whitebeard didn't avert his gaze from the deck.

"I sent her into town with the others." Then he looked over his shoulder, "Why do you ask?"

"It's just that most of the noise comes from her and Ethan irritating you to no end." He smirked; Whitebeard could have sworn that he heard a hint of amusement in Irvine's voice.

"Well, Ethan is working with Taro, I needed Ethan to stay here as some of our weapons got broken and destroyed during the storm and I needed him to fix them." Whitebeard smiled.

"Yeah." Irvine said, his eyes continued to scan the deck as if he was trying to find someone, Whitebeard noticed this and tapped him in the shoulder, Irvine looked up and saw him pointing in a certain direction, at once his attention shifted to see what Whitebeard was pointing at. Ethan and Taro were sitting down deep in conversation with each other.

----

"Ethan?" Taro asked as he looked up from the piece of wood he was hammering.

"Yeah?" Ethan replied as he looked up from the cannon he was working on.

"Do you thin that we could take a break, my arms are killing me." He was referring to the fact that he had been carrying wood from one side of the ship to the other all day. Ethan smiled.

"You could if you want, but I better finish fixing this cannon, if I don't Whitebeard will find a way to shoot me out of it." He said with a small laugh, Taro placed the hammer down beside him and lay down with his head resting on his arms. He looked up at the sky before he closed his eyes.

"Ethan?" Taro asked once more.

"Yeah?" Ethan replied, not looking up from what he was working on this time, a hint of irritation in his voice for being disturbed again. Taro didn't notice and continued with his question.

"Do you think that getting caught up in the storm was my fault?" Taro asked, he said this in a way that was offhanded but still you could tell that it bugged him. This made Ethan look up; he blew his silver hair out of his eyes and looked at Taro.

"No, why?"

"I dunno, I just feel that it was." Taro half shrugged his shoulders and continued to keep his eyes closed. Ethan ruffled his hair and thought about what he could say.

"Look, everyone makes mistakes, Taro, its all part of being human. No-one blames you for what happened and that means you shouldn't blame yourself. So just learn to relax and take things as they come. Learn from your mistakes and stuff" Ethan then returned his attention to the cannon; Taro sat up slowly and looked at him, Ethan was definitely the more sensible out of him and Rayne, which is why he liked to talk to him. Taro laid back and his thoughts wondered over to Lucia, he missed her so bad and hoped that Rayne had not got her into any trouble. He laughed at this thought, what trouble could they get into on a shopping trip, that's what girls do best. He opened his eyes slightly and looked out of the corner of them, Ethan was concentrating so hard on the cannon he was fixing, Taro smiled at the dedication he showed for his work, that and his dedication for winding up Whitebeard to the point of them running away. He laughed softly to himself and closed his eyes again, he should probably continue with the work he was supposed to be doing himself but it was too nice a day to bother. Ethan's hand reached out for one of his tools, but as he had not taken his eyes of the cannon was finding it very difficult to find it. Taro heard this and opened his eyes once more; he sighed and handed the tool to Ethan. Ethan looked up and smiled, Taro laughed at him and Ethan's eyes narrowed. Taro made a gesture to his face and at once Ethan knew what he meant. He rubbed his face hard with his sleeve and looked at it, it was covered in soot. Ethan laughed to himself as he went back to his work and Taro looked at him.

"You know a rest would do you the world of good right now." He said as he laid down once more, Ethan laughed at him.

"Yeah well, I like my head were it is, if I didn't do the work Whitebeard would knock my head off, as well as blast me out of this thing, which I am surprised he hasn't done yet." Ethan added his last comment in an undertone but Taro heard it and began to laugh once more.

"Why don't you and I hang out more, Ethan?"

"Because I am either running away and hiding from Whitebeard or...nope that's the only reason" Taro could have sworn he saw Ethan shrug his shoulders, He closed his eyes once more and was thinking of taking a nap when he felt the sun had been blocked.

"Why don't you move over and-" Taro didn't finish this sentence as he found himself face to face with Whitebeard and Irvine, Taro stood up so fast that he gave himself head rush, Taro shook his head a few times as he stood before the Captain.

"Why is my railing not fixed yet, Taro?" Whitebeard asked his navigator, Taro looked around him and bent down and picked up a hammer, Whitebeard took a small step backwards, and he didn't trust anyone who was holding a hammer after what Rayne had done to his foot.

"I'll get on that right away, Captain!" Taro shot him a salute before he power walked to the other side of the ship. Whitebeard looked down at Ethan, who hadn't noticed them standing over him; Whitebeard cleared his throat in hopes of getting his attention.

"What now!" Ethan's voice hinted that he was tired of being distracted and he was trying to work. Whitebeard smirked to himself as he made his presence known.

"Ethan?" At once Ethan's body went very stiff and he slowly raised his head, he laughed in a very nervous way.

"Hi, Captain."

"Have you finished my cannon yet?"

"Well, if Taro hadn't kept interrupting me then I might have had it finished by now, but noooo." Ethan threw his hands into the air and forgetting that he had a wrench held in one of them let it go, it crashed straight into the mouth of the cannon. They three of them all stood there in a stunned silence before the cannon began to make a funny noise.

BANG!

A moment later the three of them were sitting there, their faces covered with soot. Ethan smiled and looked up at Whitebeard and Irvine, who were not very happy. Ethan sighed and picked up his wrench.

"I'll start over again."

"To right you will, and when you are finished with that you will help clean our clothes and do yours last!" Whitebeard then stormed away, a slight limp in his step; Ethan averted his gaze to stop himself from laughing, Irvine looked at him.

"Even without Rayne here you still manage to annoy him, how on earth do you do it?" Ethan looked up and smiled at Irvine.

"That's just the way I am."

"You mean you do it on purpose?"

Ethan smirked at Irvine.

"But of course."

----

Crystal-demon here and this is just a spin off type chapter so you could get to know the other characters.


	8. Chapter 8

_**CHAPTER EIGHT**_

"Now I'm not going to ask you again, tell me what you know!" Trace threatened the man that he had pinned to the wall. Trace and JT had followed a lead that had told them that somebody in town knew the whereabouts of Blackbeard and Trace was determined to follow that lead. They were in a dark room, all doors and windows had been closed up so no sunlight could get in.

The man in question was tall but the fact that he was cowering in fear gave you the impression that he was a lot smaller then he was, the mans red hair hung the same way that Ethan's did, over his eyes. But Trace could still see this mans eyes, they were widened in fear and in shock, something that the pirates called 'panic eye'. Trace had only seen that a couple of times and each time it bothered him.

"I don't want to hurt you, but I will if you don't tell me what I want to know!" Trace said again, raising his voice slightly as his grip on the mans collared tightened, the mans face was slowly going blue from the fact that he could not breath. This was the one thing in the world that Trace hated to do but it was the life of a pirate-who said it was a fun life. JT took a step forward and placed a hand on Trace's shoulder, he had a look on his face that mad Trace let the man go and he fell to the floor with a thud. Trace let out a sigh and looked at JT.

"Let me have a go." JT said in a very mono toned voice. The man on the floor looked up at the two figures standing over him and madder a split second choice- he tried to run. Trace turned around to grab at the mans shirt but JT was faster and pulled his sword out and smacked the guy straight in the stomach. The man fell back to the floor. Trace looked at him.

"Geez, you've got some reflexes." Trace said, JT ignored the comment and pressed the hilt of his blade into the mans stomach. "Now you will tell me what I want to know or I might lose my temper and you wouldn't want now, would you?" JT threatened the man.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" The man finally broke his silence, his voice was high and sounded strained, and his fear was real.

"Don't lie to me!" JT snarled at him through gritted teeth, placing away his sword and pulling the man up by his collar so they were face to face.

""I'm not; I don't know what you mean. Who are you people? Why don't you leave me alone?" The man closed his eyes to avoid the glare of the two pirates, JT stood there and tightened his grip on the mans collar. The man choked and spluttered but JT just stood there as if he did this everyday, which I'm sure he did.

"I will ask you one more time." Not a sound of emotion or anything could be heard in JT's voice, it was almost creepy, "Tell me were Blackbeard is or so help me I'll-"

"Alright, alright." The man finally caved and stared at the two pirates with blood shot eyes, "I heard that he was in the northern region of the sea but I doubt that he is still alive. That place is crawling with the Navy; he would have been caught or killed already."

"Lies." JT's voice grew louder and the man that he had in his grasp tried to shrink down the wall, his collar ripped under the amount of pressure placed on it and the man fell to the floor with a thud. JT smirked at the man's misfortune, behind him Trace was looking at his watch, they were running out of time and fast.

"Wrap this up…quickly." Trace sighed out as he spoke and JT turned to face him.

"Can I kill him?"

"If you want to, just make sure they can't link it back to us, we do have a job to do and it's always made harder with the Nave snooping round." Trace shrugged his shoulders as a smile lighted up JT's face; he turned his attention back to the man on the floor.

"Tick tock my friend, either you tell me what I want to know now and live or don't tell me and die." JT smiled at him, the man on the floor gulped and stared right back at him.

"Look, all I know is that he has a new band of pirates and those are ones you don't mess with." He whimpered, JT chortled.

"Neither are we mate."

"They were last seen heading south towards-" He was cut off by a loud gun shot, Trace and JT both spun around as there were more shots followed by shouts of men and a loud high pitched scream. JT turned to Trace.

"You don't think-?"

"It's gotta be…HEY WAIT!" Trace yelled as the man they were interrogating began to sneak out of the room, with one motion JT had pulled out his sword and hit the man across the side of the head with tremendous force, the man went sprawling to the floor and a small pool of blood was seen forming around the wound.

"I said don't make it obvious…geez JT, could you not have waited until he told us were Blackbeard was" Trace said as he brushed a hand through his hair, JT turned and smiled at him as he re-seethed his sword.

"What I do?"

"Never mind…" Trace sighed and he turned his attention to outside, were the gunshots could still be heard and more voices had joined the fray.

"Let's go, we better find Rayne and Lucia and get the hell out of here." Trace sprinted to the door of the warehouse and pulled it open; the light was bright in his eyes, he had just spent most of his time on the dark, Trace blinked for a moment before his eyes let him see the madness that was unfolding in-front of him. People were running and screaming as a large group of Navy men were strolling through the town, guns blazing like they owned the place. Trace turned to talk to JT who had appeared at his shoulder.

"Small problem…" Trace said, pointing his finger in the direction of the Navy, JT quirked an eyebrow.

"Ya think!" He snarled at him, Trace looked at him for a moment before he turned away, his eyes scanning the area to find a different route.

"We could head back to the ship, but we won't have Rayne or Lucia with us, unless they have already gone back but we can't be sure of this. In the other hand we could-" Trace thought out loud, JT tapped him on the shoulder, breaking the pirates rant.

"Hate to rain on your parade and what not but how do you expect us to get back to the ship and find Rayne and Lucia all at the same time?" JT asked, Trace waved a hand at him.

"It's a plan in processes, I'll sort out the fine details in a moment" He said as he placed his other free hand on his chin, the other was still waving at JT, and thought to himself.

"Psss." He heard from behind him, his waving hand grew more frantic.

"Shh…I'm trying to think, JT." He said.

"Psss" The voice said again.

"Trying to think here, give me a moment." Trace sighed out, JT then appeared at his side, a look of confusion on his face.

"I'm not saying anything and if you keep waving that hand at me I will cut it off." Trace stopped and looked at JT, once more the voice made a annoyed sounding 'psssing' noise. Trace froze on the spot.

"So if you're not making it then who is?" JT shrugged his shoulders.

"I dunno, I thought you were making it at first, a kind of I'm thinking noise but I was wrong, go figure." JT said, Trace looked at him.

"Ha ha very funny, but were is that noise coming from?" Trace looked around him wildly. He stopped for a moment before he felt a hand grab him by his shoulder, Trace turned around quickly and saw himself come face to face with Rayne, who had a finger on her lips and a very unhappy look on her face, behind her Lucia was smiling and waving at the same time.

"What are you deaf? I was trying to get your attention for ages!" Rayne whispered as she pulled Trace into the alleyway where they were hiding, it was a tight squeeze but they all fitted in.

"You were making a weird noise at me, how was I supposed to know it was you?" Trace argued his voice rising slightly; at once Rayne shot her free hand onto his mouth and stifled any noise that he was trying to make.

"Shut up! Do you want to get us all killed?" Rayne snapped at him, Trace shook his head and Rayne let her hand drop. She sighed out and continued speaking. "We got to get back to the ship, now. The Navy are swarming this place as they are looking for…us." She finished speaking and was aware that Trace and JT were both looking at her, she raised an eyebrow.

"What?" She asked.

"How do you think we are going to get back to the ship if the place is swarming with the Navy?" JT said, at this remark Lucia smiled.

"We found a route, we are female after all…it's quick and we should get to the port without being seen…hopefully" She added as she began to walk down the small alleyway. Rayne, Trace and JT followed her out. They spent about an hour trying to dodge Navy men, the occasional screaming lady and anyone who screamed pirate at them. After a while they saw the port.

"Oh yeah, quicker" Trace said with a tint of sarcasm in his voice, Lucia turned to him.

"At least we're alive." She said as they walked towards the ship.

"Did you not get supplies?" JT asked Rayne, who in return gave him a look of disgust.

"I'm sorry but I thought that running for my life was more important." She growled at him. As soon as they reached the ship a familiar sound could be heard.

"ETHAN YOU IDIOT!" Whitebeard's voice rang out, making all of them jump.

"Now calm down." Irvine's voice had joined in, the four people outside the boat sniggered to them selves as they heard the events unfolding.

"Home sweet home?" Trace said, uncertainly. In his head he was thinking about how he was going to explain to Whitebeard that their only lead on Blackbeard was lying in a pool if his own blood as JT had felt the urge to smack him one.

----

I am so sorry that it has taken me so long to update but I have been busy with school and all that. I'll try and update quicker next time. Promise.


	9. Chapter 9

_CHAPTER NINE_

"ETHAN YOU IDIOT!" Whitebeards voice was heard across the deck, all the crew turned to look at what was the major cause of the commotion, Whitebeard was holding up a pair of underwear that had shrunk considerably and he was staring daggers at Ethan who had been doing the washing after the "accident" with the cannon. Irvine was standing in between them in hopes of preventing bloodshed and an unhappy trip down to his cabin.

"It's not my fault…much" Ethan protested his hands held up in defeat; Whitebeard attempted to take a step forward but was stopped by Irvine.

"Now calm down." Irvine said placing a hand on Whitebeards shoulder.

"You…idiot…" seemed to be the only words that Whitebeard could muster to express his feeling about the washing.

"I fix weapons, I don't do washing…" Ethan grumbled to himself, Whitebeard heard this and raised an eyebrow.

"Then how come my clothes are the only ones that seem to be shrunk?" His eyes then narrowed in a menacing way, Ethan took a large step backwards as if to avoid his eyes but it was like one of those pictures…its eyes followed you everywhere. Ethan backed into the railing of the ship, with a quick glance over his shoulder he contemplated making a break for it but stopped at the sight of the four crew-men that left the ship a while ago, he smiled and waved at them before he turned back to face Whitebeard.

"Traceisback!" He said in a very quick tone, Whitebeard stopped.

"What?" He asked, Ethan took a deep breath and started again.

"Trace…is…back…" Whitebeard glanced at him.

"Why didn't you say that then?"

"I think he did." Irvine joined in, appearing at his shoulder, Ethan took another look over the edge at the group and a frown appeared on his face.

"What…no supplies?" He asked innocently unaware of the events that had just happened and he was greeted with fours sets of evil eyes.

"Geez, I was only asking, what crawled up your butts and died?" Ethan sighed out as he walked past Whitebeard who was still holding the pair of underwear that he Ethan had shrunk in his hands.

"Have fun" Ethan said as he walked straight past him, Whitebeard turned to face him.

"Wait! I'm not finished with you yet, Ethan!" Whitebeard called after the boy but Ethan just kept walking. Whitebeard then threw the clothing in his hands into Irvine who caught them. Whitebeard then paced over to the ledge and called down to his crew.

"Are you coming aboard or am I going to have to leave you behind?" He snapped making them all flinch. Trace placed a hand on his head.

"Great, Whitebeard's in a crappy mood…" He mumbled under his breath. Trace looked up and saw that Whitebeard was staring at him.

"What did you say?" Whitebeard's voice had a threatening tone to it, Trace's body jolted up.

"N-no! Coming aboard captain!" He gave a confused looking salute and the four of them clambered on board. Whitebeard gave them a funny look which cause JT to tilt his head in confusion.

"What?" He asked as he noticed the look that they were given.

"Where are the supplies that I sent you into town to get?" Whitebeard asked sweetly, his mood was not improving and now he had to either send them back into town to get supplies or tell the crew that they will be living off of their show laces. Trace crossed his arms across his chest and prepared to explain the situation to him.

"You see….it was Rayne and Lucia's fault!" Trace pointed a accusing finger in the girls general direction.

"Hey!" They both yelled in unison.

"Don't you dare blame this on us, we had the Navy chase us and then we had to hide in a dark and smelly alleyway and then-" Lucia began to rant, Whitebeard raised a hand to silence their chatter.

"The Navy?" Whitebeard asked as his eyes flicked to the town and then back again, Rayne nodded.

"Yep, the swine's are after us, as per-norm, but they want to kill us and…which is nothing new I guess." Rayne finished talking and glanced over at Whitebeard who's attention had returned to the town.

"Where you seen?" He asked.

"Don't think so." Trace replied, Whitebeard sighed.

"Can't take any chances…raise the anchor! We are leaving…NOW!" He yelled at the top of his voice, the random crewmen on the ship jumped into salutes and busied themselves into work, random calls of 'raise the anchor' were heard across the ship. Whitebeard turned to Trace.

"I need to talk to you in a minute." He then spoke to the rest of the group. "The rest of you are dismissed" Trace looked at Whitebeard and in his head he thought about what he was going to say.

"About time you got back" Ethan had returned and was talking to Rayne who smiled at him.

"How badly did you torment him while I was gone, Ethan?" Rayne asked, Ethan gave her a sly smile.

"I made a cannon blow up in his face and I shrunk his washing" He stated.

"Good, I'm proud of you."

"What happened in town?" Ethan asked as he remembered the looks that he got when he asked about the supplies. Rayne frowned.

"Stuff." Rayne said as she looked over her shoulder, Ethan place a hand on his hips and stared at her.

"Whatever." He shrugged his shoulders at her. Rayne sighed. Lucia was looking around the deck when a voice called her name.

"Lucia!" Taro's voice sounded, Lucia spun around in tome to be pulled into his embrace and a smile appeared on her face.

"Taro, I missed you!" She squeed.

"I missed you too!" He smiled as he tightened his hug, Rayne and Ethan looked at each other.

"It's been an hour maybe two for god sake." Rayne moaned at the display of affection "If I was like that with Ethan everyone time we were a part we would be like that all day!" Ethan gave Rayne a look of disgust.

"Eww! You giving me and hug? That's like JT smiling or Whitebeard not calling me an idiot!" Ethan said as he out his hands in his pocket and walked away. Rayne looked after him for a moment before she followed.

"Trace?" Whitebeard asked as he made sure the deck was clear before they began their chat. Trace looked at him.

"It was a no go and even though I would have gotten something JT decided to smack him in the head with a sword" Whitebeard's eyes widened.

"What?"

"Anyway, the dude said something about him being in the south so that is our best bet." Trace said as he looked out across the ocean, a crew-men walked up to them and asked Whitebeard where they were heading.

"To the south!"

-----

Another one bits the dust.

You know the drill please R&R.


	10. Chapter 10

_**CHAPTER TEN.**_

A familiar sound filled the air…the sound of two swords caught up in combat, that's a sound that you hear a lot on this ship, friendly sparing between shipmates and if you lost your ego took a bit of a knock but not this time, when the only thing that you had to lose would be you life and that of those around you.

Whitebeard swung his sword over his head with such grace that you would not think that he was fighting, his face scrunched up in concentration but his eyes showed worry, fear and confusion.

Confusion as to how the enemy had got onto his ship and why there are so many of them, why could he not predict what was going to happen. Once more the two swords collided in the air and sent both fighters reeling backwards.

It wasn't supposed to have been like this….

Not now….

_3 hours earlier…_

"Now, tell me everything that the guy said." Whitebeard said as he rested his head on his hands in frustration. He and Trace were sitting in his cabin and Trace was trying to explain the recent turn of events.

"Like I said, the guy didn't give up much information and even if he decided that it was in his best interest to listen to what we had to say-" Trace was cut off as Whitebeard raised a hand wearily.

"-And JT decided that it was in the mans best interest if he smacked him in the head with his sword instead" Whitebeard sighed and Trace noticed that the lines on his forehead had deepened. Whitebeard slowly got to his feet and walked over to the cabin window.

"And the man said something about him being in the south?" Whitebeard asked, Trace lent on the desk and blew his hair out of his eyes.

"Not sure of we can go on the lead or not…but its better then nothing I suppose." Trace replied as he glanced at the maps that were sprawled out over Whitebeards desk, Whitebeard turned away from the window and faced Trace, his face showing signs of worry.

"This is territory unknown to us so I want you to be on constant guard, never let it down for a second…you understand?" Whitebeard took a few steps towards Trace and placed his hands on Traces shoulders, Trace smirked.

"Aye aye, Captain."

_2 hours earlier…_

"Rayne….if you are going to help me then do as I say." Lucia moaned as she tried to talk to Rayne over her shoulder. Rayne had been sent to help Lucia with Kitchen duty but seemed to only be getting in the way.

"But I'm bored." Rayne said as she tried to balance a saucepan on the palm of her hand, Lucia strode over and snatched the pan away from her.

"Stressy much?" Mocked Rayne as she sat on top of the work surface. Lucia sighed as she began to put away the pots and pans that had just been cleaned.

"Im sorry, okay" Lucia said without even looking at her. "It's just been a rough day, that's all."

"Yeah I know that's why you need to learn to rewind, relax a little…. knit or something." Rayne smirked, Lucia looked over the top of the cupboard door at Rayne.

"Knit?" She said as she tried to fight the urge to laugh, Rayne shrugged her shoulders.

"Well…you never know, you could always use the needles as a weapon or even better you could smack someone in the face with a frying pan or a rolling pin but am I just thinking a little cliché here?" Rayne said in a mock form of defence, Lucia closed the door and shook her head.

"You are a very strange child"

_1 hour earlier…._

Irvine lent on the railing with his eyes closed, he let the sea air gently dance threw his hair. It was quiet, for once, and he was taking a break from being stuck in his office all day, the sun reflected off the water and it seemed to glisten in appreciation of the attention. Irvine opened his eyes and was instantly blinded by the sun. He scanned the deck and decided to observe what was going one around him.

To his right Taro and JT were sat in deep conversation, a rare sight to see JT talking with anyone without smacking them in the face and walking off. Taro, a rather patient man, seemed to be enjoying this conversation and the drinks that they held in their hands.

On his left hand side Ethan was throwing playing card into a hat, not missing a single card. Irvine admired this kid, as his aim was never off. Irvine turned his attention back to the sea as something had caught his eye and seemed to have caught everyone else's too. Irvine squinted as he tried to make out the outline…

A ship….

Navy... no it couldn't be...the ship wasn't large enough to be a navy ship, then it clicked…_pirates._

_Current time…_

Whitebeard plummeted his sword deep into the gut of his opponent and snatched up his enemy's sword instead. He looked over his shoulder to see how the rest of his crew were doing but more importantly where they all were. Whitebeard rubbed the sweat out of his eyes just as a loud and panic stricken scream of 'FIRE' filled the air, he spun around and saw that a large fire ball was heading straight for him, he dived out of the way as the inferno scattered men and took many overboard into the seas unforgiving grasps.

"Trace!" Whitebeard shouted over the sounds of the swords and guns. More enemy crewmen ran past him spouting stuff about a monster or a human fore ball.

"You picked the wrong crew to try and tackle!" A voice said, Whitebeard caught sight of Trace, both palms burning brightly as he cornered a cowering bunch of crewmen.

"What-what are you?" They stammered over the top of each other, their voices only just being understood, Trace smirked as the flames spread up his arms and sent shivers down their spines.

"Difficult." Trace replied as he sent a heat wave speeding towards them, sending them hurtling overboard, a strong smell of singed clothing filled the air. Trace sighed as he let the flames slowly begin to die down. Whitebeard approached him.

"You ok?" A slight hint of urgency filled Whitebeards voice, Trace smiled.

"Never better, you?"

"I will be once we get these second rate pirates of my ship!" Whitebeard snarled making a few heads turn in his general direction. Trace quickly began to take in the damage that was being done and finding a quick solution to end this infestation. Trace looked over his shoulder to see Rayne and Ethan cutting at the ropes that seemed to be connecting their ship to that of the other crew, this caused many of their opposition to crash into the water, the rest of the Whitebeard crews soon caught on and began to use whatever they had to hand to cut away at the ropes the kept them bounded.

"I think we should be-" Whitebeard began to speak but he never finished his sentence, Trace looked at him.

"Whitebeard?" He asked taking a slight step towards him, he noticed that Whitebeard was swaying and as soon as Trace was close enough Whitebeard fell into his arms.

"WHITEBEARD!" Trace cried at the top of his lunges as Whitebeards weight sent them both sprawling to the floor, Trace looked over Whitebeards body and saw that there was a single bullet wound.

"I-I never heard the shot…" Trace mumbled to himself over and over again as he looked at Whitebeard in his arms, the life slowly fading from his face. Trace looked up as a figure had caused a shadow to appear over them.

"Well, well, well…looks like I hit him" said a voice that seemed to echo through Traces brain, Traces eyes narrowed as he stared at the figure in disgust.

"You…."

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And that is another chapter over! I thought that I might add a little fighting into the story…what do you think? Please R&R


	11. Chapter 11

Please note that I am using the dub version of the names so chaser is known as captain smoker. Sorry for the confusion.

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_**CHAPTER ELEVEN.**_

Traces eyes widened in horror as he stared at the figure in front of him, all around him he could here voices crying out in pain and despair, anguish and hurt but they all seemed irrelevant compared to what he was feeling. Was it selfish of him to think about himself only when his Captain-no his Mentor was dying in his arms? Or when his crew was dying around him? He didn't know and at the moment nor did he care, at this moment in time all he cared about was himself and…. him.

Who did he think he was? Standing there like he had done the hardest thing in the world…well he had…he had shot the captain of the Whitebeard crew, the most feared crew in all of the seas.

But Trace was confused, why was he working with the pirates? Had he betrayed the Navy or just working for his own personal glory? Whatever the case this man had to pay…he had to die.

"I haven't seen you since Alabasta, how ya been?" The mans voice bought Trace out of his train of thought and back into the cold reality. Trace Snarled at the man.

"Didn't think I'd see you with pirates, I thought you hated us." Trace said, finding a little bit of courage in his voice. He was still aware that Whitebeard was in his arms but for some reason calling for Irvine was the last thing on his mind right now.

"You know how it is…I'm actually looking for your brother, ya seen him?"

"Oh like I'd tell you!" Trace snapped, his temper beginning to reach breaking point, the man scoffed at the pirate.

"Brotherly love, it's so sweet, isn't it?" He taunted. "Almost makes me wish I had one"

"What'd you do? Betray him? Kill him? That's just like you!" Trace growled, the man raised an eyebrow at the obvious sign of fury this pirate was showing.

"Funny"

"It wasn't a joke…so now that you are travelling with pirates what do I call you? Cabin Boy Chaser or Poop deck officer Chaser?" Trace taunted at the man.

"That's Captain Chaser to you and don't you forget it!" Chaser snarled at Trace, Trace looked down at Whitebeard, the colour was still draining from his face and it was at this point that his senses kicked in.

"Someone get Irvine, NOW!" Trace yelled at the top of his voice, ignoring the fact that Chaser was laughing at his efforts and calling them futile. A voice responded his call.

"Trace? What are you yelling about?" Taros voice had joined the fray, Trace was unsure when he had got there but he was glad that he was.

"The Captain-" Was all that Trace could seem to muster; the words refused to have a voice and got stuck in his throat. Taro looked over Traces shoulder and saw what he was talking about.

"Holy-"

"Taro, do something!" Trace said, pleading being defined in his voice. Taro bent down beside Trace and took Whitebeard from him, it felt like a great weight had been lifted and Trace looked up at Taro.

"I'll take him to Irvine. Trace, you better deal with this and quick…with the Captain down your our next commanding officer" Trace flinched as he heard these words, he watched Taro rush off towards the medical hut which was being guarded by JT, a small pile of bodies had formed by his feet. Trace looked at Chaser.

"Its just you and me, Trace" Chaser said as he held out his gun. Traces eyes narrowed as he glared at the gun, he wasn't afraid, he had never been allowed to be. He was an older brother meaning that he had to be strong no matter what the circumstances…

How that sucked….

"Yeah…just you, me and a ship filled with _my _crew…didn't think this out to well, did ya?" He said mocking the way that Chaser spoke, Chaser tightened his grip on the gun and took a step towards Trace. To his surprise Trace step forward also, closing the gap between them.

"You dare to mock me? I'll teach you what happens to those who mock me!" Chaser took another step forward and so did Trace, the barrel of the gun only inches away from Traces head but still he did not flinch.

Suddenly Traces hand shot up and grabbed the gun, a smirk appearing on his face.

"Do you want to shoot me like you shot Whitebeard? Well go ahead, im standing right in front of you or can you only shoot people if they have their backs to you?" The gun that Trace held in his hand began to sizzle and soon a smell of burning metal filled the air. Chasers eyes widened in horror as he saw what was happening…Trace was melting the gun. Chaser let go off the gun and it hit the floor with a thud, leaving scorch marks on the wooden deck.

Chaser looked up just in time to feel a fist connect with the left side of his face. Chaser fell to the floor and looked up at Trace. Trace stood over the man and at once the flames began to dance around his arms, a beautiful yet frightening sight, Chaser scurried away and grabbed at the nearest sword. He jumped to his feet and held it at arms length, trying to widen the gap between himself and the human fireball. Chaser backed away…straight into a railing and his only escape seemed to be jumping into the water…small problem…

"You're cornered…aren't you? Cause people like us don't like the water…do we?" Trace called as he realised Chasers problem, Chaser looked at the floor.

He could die at the unforgiving grasp of the ocean or at the hands of an angry pirate…

Crappy choice….

Chaser swung the sword at Traces head and instinctively Trace put his arms up to protect his face. The sword and fire collided midway and neither fighter budged.

"Today you die!" Trace growled as the flames began to climb up the sword, bending the metal ever so slightly. Chaser smirked and ducked down, sending a sweeping kick towards Traces legs and knocking the pirate to the floor.

"Another day perhaps" Chaser yelled as he called to his men to retreat, Trace clambered to his feet and chased after him.

"Coward!"

"No my dear friend…clever" And with that their opponents ran away, ran away with their tails in-between their legs…they ran like cowards. Trace glared as he watched the cowards flee.

"ARM THE CANNONS!" He cried, making everyone turn to face him. Ethan cleared his throat and Traces head snapped in that direction.

"Trace…just let them go…it's over, we won" Ethan said, sounding completely exhausted.

"Won? Do we look like we won, Ethan? Take a look around you, at all the damage. Did you forget that they shot the Captain?" Trace turned on Ethan, all his anger had boiled up inside him and he hadn't had a chance to take it out on Chaser.

"I'm just saying-" Ethan began but was stopped as Trace took a menacing step towards him.

"Saying what?" Said Trace through gritted teeth, Ethan cowered in Traces glare but held his ground, sort of.

"That we should focus on repairing the ship in case of another attack, and we should make sure that the Captain gets all the care that he needs, that's what im saying" Ethan finished his sentence and looked back at Trace.

"And who made you Captain? If I say load the Cannons then that is what I want you to do!" Trace grabbed Ethan by the scruff of his neck and shook him violently.

"TRACE!" A voice from behind made his drop Ethan, who quickly crawled away from Trace with fear in his eyes, Ethan had never seen Trace like this…ever and he didn't like it.

Trace turned and looked at the direction of the voice. He saw that Irvine and Taro were standing there, both had blood on their hands and tops and Trace knew that it wasn't theirs…hell the whole crew knew that but why was there so much blood, it was only a single gun wound right?

Right?

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Thank you to all those who have reviewed my story.

Please enjoy this chapter.


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